Madam Lam Cheng Yee, who owned the unit at 32H Nassim Road, had claimed she was entitled to cancel the payment to Ms Cindy Wong of Areco International who had clinched the sale. At 1.5 per cent commission for the sale, the amount came to $382,500.

She argued that she lost the opportunity to get a better price because it later emerged that the buyer was a neighbour after the sale went through.

The agent, she said, had told her that the buyer, who remained anonymous during the transaction, wanted the house because of its feng shui.

She claimed that Ms Wong had been deceitful as the buyer's address on the option document was listed as an office in Temasek Boulevard, rather than 32K Nassim Road.

The buyer was Mr Chew Hua Seng, founder and chairman of Raffles Education Corporation. He was ranked No. 10 in the Forbes list of Singapore's top 40 richest persons in 2007.

Madam Lam's bungalow on the 1,250 sq m piece of land adjoins his unit at the rear with a narrow passageway leading to the main road. Seen from Nassim Road, both units are separated by another unit, 32G.

Madam Lam's husband, Mr Thio Keng Thay, a former deputy managing director of Malaysia Dairy Industries, handled the sale on her behalf.

Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.